This Year Might Be the Worst Tick Season Ever. Here ’ s Why
Marci Silbert wasn’t walking far on the evening of May 6. She, her husband, and another couple were visiting friends for dinner, and after eating, took a brief stroll down a short path to a small pond on their hosts’ property in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. They lingered for just a few moments, and then walked back. But that was all it took.
The next day, her husband noticed a tick embedded in his forearm. Silbert had one on the inside of her knee, and the husband in the other couple had one on his thigh. Out of an abundance of caution, they went to the hospital, had them removed, and were given prophylacti...
Source: TIME: Health - June 20, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized climate change Disease Environment healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
NASA ’s Apollo 11 Moon Quarantine Was Mostly for Show, Study Says
A review of archives suggests that efforts to protect Earth from contamination by any organism brought back from the lunar surface were mostly for show. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - June 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Sarah Scoles Tags: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Moon Space and Astronomy Extraterrestrial Life Microbiology Apollo Project Laboratories and Scientific Equipment Infections Epidemics Research History (Academic Subject) Isis Source Type: news
Apple cider vinegar: the ultimate panacea – or wildly overhyped?
It has been said to kill E coli, reduce cholesterol, lower blood sugar and aid weight loss. But not all health experts are convinced of its powersFeeling peckish one day in 2017, Darshna Yagnik, an immunologist and lecturer in biomedical science at Middlesex University, took a punt on something that had been lurking at the back of the fridge. She soon regretted it and started feeling queasy. Desperate to avoid food poisoning, she racked her brains for something that might help – and remembered the bottle ofapple cider vinegar (ACV) in the cupboard. She decided to glug a diluted shot. “Immediately, I felt like there was...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - June 5, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Amy Fleming Tags: Health & wellbeing Microbiology Food Life and style Immunology Diabetes Diets and dieting E coli Source Type: news
Oldest evidence of plague in Britain found in 4,000-year-old human remains
Traces of Yersinia pestis bacteria were found in teeth of people buried at bronze age sites in Cumbria and SomersetThe oldest evidence for the plague in Britain has been discovered in 4,000-year-old human remains unearthed at bronze age burial sites in Cumbria and Somerset.Traces ofYersinia pestis bacteria were found in the teeth of individuals at the Levens Park ring cairn monument near Kendal, and Charterhouse Warren in the Mendips, a site where at least 40 men, women and children were buried, dismembered, in a natural shaft.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 30, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Ian Sample Science editor Tags: Archaeology Science Infectious diseases UK news Cumbria Microbiology Epidemics Source Type: news
Dangerous lab leaks happen far more often than the public is aware | Alison Young
Biological facilities in the US and around the world suffer breaches, including of potentially pandemic-causing pathogens, but are shrouded in secrecyAt biological research facilities across the United States and around the world, hundreds of safety breaches happen every year at labs experimenting with dangerous pathogens. Scientists and other lab workers are bitten by infected animals, stuck by contaminated needles and splashed with infectious fluids. They are put at risk of exposures when their protective gear malfunctions or critical building biosafety systems fail.And, like all humans, the people working in laboratorie...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 30, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Alison Young Tags: Science Coronavirus Health policy Science policy Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Source Type: news
The COVID-19 virus mutated to outsmart key antibody treatments. Better ones are coming
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and other effective drugs were elusive, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) emerged as a lifesaving treatment. But now, 3 years later, all the approvals for COVID-19–fighting antibodies have been rescinded in the United States, as mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have left the drugs—which target parts of the original virus—ineffective.
Researchers around the globe are now trying to revive antibody treatments by redesigning them to take aim at targets that are less prone to mutation. “There are new approaches that present a much more challenging task for the virus to evade,”...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 24, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Covid-resistant bats could be key to fighting the next pandemic
The only mammals that fly are not affected by coronaviruses. Scientists are trying to work out whyWidely depicted as evil spirits or blood-sucking demons, bats have had a poor press over the years. No vampire film, from Dracula to Buffy, has been complete without an entrance of one of these harbingers of death.But these grim portrayals demean the bat. We have much to learn from them, insist researchers who now believe bats could be crucial in helping us cope with future pandemics.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 20, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Robin McKie Tags: Infectious diseases Coronavirus Mammals Medical research Microbiology Science World news Source Type: news
Toddlers ’ gut bacteria may predict future obesity, study suggests
Researchers identify differences in bacteria that colonise the gut in adults living with obesityThe gut bacteria of a toddler can predict whether they will be overweight later in life, research suggests.The study, led by Ga ël Toubon from the Université Sorbonne Paris, looked at the data from 512 infants who were part of a study that tracked the lives of 18,000 children born in France.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Tobi Thomas Tags: Obesity Microbiology Children Science Medical research Society World news Health & wellbeing Source Type: news
Committee of MPs, former judges to examine firing of 2 National Microbiology Lab scientists
Members from all official parties in the House of Commons and three former judges will sit on a new ad hoc committee to look into the controversial firing of two scientists from Canada's top virology lab in Winnipeg. (Source: CBC | Health)
Source: CBC | Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: News/Politics Source Type: news
BD Gains 510(k) Clearance of Artificial Intelligence Software for MRSA Diagnostics
BD Kiestra MRSA Imaging Application Helps Enhance Microbiology Laboratory Efficiency and Workflow
FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., May 16, 2023 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical ... Diagnostics, FDA BD , BD Kiestra, artificial intelligence, MRSA (Source: HSMN NewsFeed)
Source: HSMN NewsFeed - May 16, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Bone flap infections after craniotomy: a review of 63 cases and the implications for definitions, classification and surveillance methodologies
Conclusion: Greater clarity on how to define BFI is required to enable better classification and the carrying out of appropriate surveillance. This will inform preventative strategies and more effective patient management. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - May 16, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Privacy concerns sparked by human DNA accidentally collected in studies of other species
Everywhere they go, humans leave stray DNA. Police have used genetic sequences retrieved from cigarette butts and coffee cups to identify suspects; archaeologists have sifted DNA from cave dirt to identify ancient humans. But for scientists aiming to capture genetic information not about people, but about animals, plants, and microbes, the ubiquity of human DNA and the ability of even partial sequences to reveal information most people would want to keep private is a growing problem, researchers from two disparate fields warn this week. Both groups are calling for safeguards to prevent misuse of such human genomic “bycat...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 15, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Join NCBI at ASM Microbe 2023
Houston, TX, June 15-19, 2023 NCBI is looking forward to seeing you in person at the American Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting (ASM Microbe 2023). NCBI staff will participate in a variety of activities and events and will also be available at our booth (#2410) to address your questions. We’re especially excited to share our … Continue reading Join NCBI at ASM Microbe 2023 → (Source: NCBI Insights)
Source: NCBI Insights - May 15, 2023 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: NCBI Staff Tags: What's New NCBI Pathogen Detection NCBI Taxonomy Source Type: news
Simon Schama on the broken relationship between humans and nature: ‘The joke’s on us. Things are amiss’
More than ever, the relationship between our two worlds has been disrupted, says the historian. If we don ’t mend our ways, will we face even deadlier threats than Covid, Sars and Mpox?In March 2021, the 13th month of the Covid confinement, thepeepers, in their vast multitudes, sang out again. Down in the swampy wetlands below our house in Hudson Valley, New York, millions ofPseudacris crucifer ( “cross-bearing false locusts” but actually minute frogs) puffed up their air sacs and warbled for a mate. That’s spring for you. The peepers are so tiny – an inch or so long – that you’ll never see one, no matter how...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 13, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Simon Schama Tags: Epidemics Coronavirus Animals World Health Organization Simon Schama Culture Infectious diseases Science Illegal wildlife trade Environment Vaccines and immunisation Society Microbiology Source Type: news
When stem cells can ’t roll on a bumpy road, muscles break down
Key takeawaysStem cells travel along a collagen network to reach damaged muscle tissue and heal it.In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stiff, scarred collagen prevents stem cells from reaching their target.A protein called sarcospan lessens this scarring and allows stem cells to do their job more successfully, pointing toward potential new treatments for the disorder.Muscles that ache after a hard workout usually don ’t hurt for long, thanks to stem cells that rush to the injured site along “collagen highways” within the muscle and repair the damaged tissue. But if the cells can’t reach their destinat...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - May 12, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
